Let it be said that Tommy West does not mince words.
Having said that, one can assume West means business when he says he expects his resurgent football team to reach a bowl game this year.
West, who is beginning his second season as head coach for The University of Memphis, knows that taking Tiger football to its first bowl game since 1971 is no small feat, but he said he believes his young football team is ready for the challenge.
“It’s time for us to get it done,” West said earlier this week during Conference USA’s media gathering. “We’ve been close, and I think now is the time. Those are my expectations, and I want that to be our team’s expectations as well.”
Starting quarterback Danny Wimprine, sophomore, will bring something into this season The U of M has not had in quite some time — the confidence of his coach.
Last year, West and his Tigers entered the season without a clear-cut starter. It wasn’t until Memphis’ sixth contest against Houston that Wimprine took over the position, replacing Travis Anglin, who has since switched to receiver. Despite his late arrival as a starter on offense, Wimprine threw for a freshman record 1,329 yards and 14 touchdowns. His 14 passing TDs accounted for the second-highest total in school history.
“(Wimprine) wants to be the man, that’s just his personality,” West said. “It makes it easier on me, on the other coaches and the team to have a go-to guy like Danny.”
Senior defensive end Tony Brown said the Tigers have been working hard in the offseason and are anxious to begin their season.
“We’re always ready to begin,” he said. “We’ve been ready since the end of last season.”
Senior tackle Wade Smith said the Tigers’ last-second loss against Cincinnati last year, which ended Memphis’ season at 5-6, has motivated him to push for success.
“No more fourth-and-27s,” Smith said. “I don’t ever want to see that again. It was tough losing like that, but I think it’s pushed us to work harder for this season.”
West said his team has made good progress in its transition from a running team (when he took over last year) to a more wide-open passing offense, which the Tigers showed glimpses of at the end of last season.
“We’re further along than I thought we would be in a year,” he said. “We made tremendous progress through the season. I guess that’s our challenge — to take where we left off and continue to improve on that.”
